Dr. Om Pal Singh Khola

Dr. Om Pal Singh Khola, an Alumni (B.Sc. Hons., M.Sc. and Ph.D.) of Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar is currently working as Professor (Agronomy) and Head (Natural Resources Management Division) in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, SGT University, Gurugram. Prior to this, Dr. Khola has served Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), DARE, MoA&FW, Govt. of India for more than 34 years in different capacities with PAN India exposure. He has a rich managerial experience as Head of Regional Stations (ICAR-IISWC, Udhagamandalam, The Nilgiris, TN and ICAR-IISWC, Chandigarh, UT) and Director (ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun) for more than 15 years.

Dr. O.P.S. Khola has published 72 research papers in peer reviewed national and international journals, 6 books / compendiums, 87 training manuals, 34 book chapters, 9 technical bulletins, 14 technology brochures, 26 chapters in conference proceedings 12 consultancy reports and more than 150 popular articles / radio talks / other publications including abstracts in different conference / symposia / seminars etc.

Dr. Khola, during his professional career in ICAR, has handled 53 research and consultancy projects - 21 as Principal Investigator and 32 as Co PI / Associate, many of them later turned into technology and policy recommendations at regional and national level. He has organised more than 200 training programmes as Course Director and delivered hundreds of expert lectures on specialised topics. He had been Chairman / Member of many Scientific Advisory and Policy Making Bodies / Task Force / Trusts / Committees for effective programme implementation, management, monitoring and impact evaluation.

Dr Khola has also managed the Indian Association of Soil and Water Conservations, Dehradun for more than 19 years as Vice-President, Secretary and Editor. He has successfully organised 5 National Conferences at Dehradun, New Delhi, Pune, Ooty and Bangalore as Organizing Secretary / Secretary General in addition to large number of Workshops and Seminars. Dr. Khola had been external examiners / paper setter / selection committee member / observer for SAUs, ICAR and ASRB.

In recognition of this notable contributions, Dr Khola has been the recipient of many awards and fellowships - Vasantrao Naik Award for Outstanding Research Applications in Dryland Farming Systems, Motivational Leadership Award, Nilgiri Conservation Award, SCSI Leadership Award, IASWC Gold Medal, Fellow IASWC and Fellow ISA are some of them. He has an exposure of visiting many European countries through a training programme ‘Sustainable Agriculture in an Environmental Perspective’ sponsored by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden in addition to attending around 20 national training programmes at institutions of repute.